Third-rail electric-railway system.



G; KOZESN-IK. THIRD BAIL ELBcTn'Ic RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION 'FILED APR-.'25, 1908.

Patented mL-16,1909.-

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES KOZESNIK,

0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

THIRD-RAIL FLECTRIClRAIIN1/'AYA SYSTEM.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES KOZESNIK, a citizen of the United States, and residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Third-Rail Electric-Railway Systems, of which the following is a specilication, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of this invention is to provide a safe electrical circuit in the main feed wire of a third rail electric railway system through the rail, armature and contact devices to the rail, which is of a low resistance and high current capacity; a further object being to provide for a safe and practical insulation of the different parts of the third rail and the operative devices connected therewith; and with these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of the parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a sectional side view of separate sections of the third rail of an electric railway system and showing one of the car or motor shoes in connection therewith, together with the circuit wires, armatures and other parts and showing the insulation employed by me; and, Fig. 2 a transverse section on the line 2 2 of F ig. 1.

In the drawing forming part of this specification, reference being made to Fig. 1, I have shown at a the sleepers or supports of the third rail Z), and said third rail is composed of separate sections b2 and each section is composed of top and bottom members 3 and bt, the bottom members b* being boxshaped in form, and the top and bottom members b3 and b4 being provided with flanges b5 and o between which is placed insulating material 227, and said flanges b5 and be and the insulating material o7 are secured together by means of bolts 3 passed therethrough or in any preferred manner, all this construction being the same in general form as that described and claimed in U. S. Letters Patent granted to me April 7, 1908, No. 884,170. The opposite sides of the top or Specication of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 25, 1908.

Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

Serial No. 429,163.

contact portion 3 of the third rail are also provided with longitudinal and overhanging side flanges b, and this 'construction particularly adapts the rail for use when side contact devices are employed as set out in the patent referred to and in an application for Letters Patent led by me October 30, 1906, Serial No. 341,256, and in anotheil application for Letters Patent of the United States filed April 18, 1908, Serial No. 427,789, said overhanging flanges o9 being designed to keep the sides of the rail free from ice, sleet, snow or other substances.

The third rail sections are separated by insulating blocks c which are fitted in between the top portions of said rail sections and are provided centrally with depending members c2 which extend downwardly between the box-shaped bottom parts of the third rail sections, and the insulating blocks c may be secured in position in any desired manner, said blocks, as will be understood, being secured to the third rail sections, and adjacent to the ends thereof in which the insulating blocks c are fitted are transverse partitions Z of insulating material which close the main parts of the bottom boxshaped portions of the third rail sections and preventwater, snow, ice or other substances from entering thcreinto.

At regular intervals within the box` shaped bottom parts of the third rail sections are placed armature supports c which rest on the bottom of the box-shaped bottom portions of the rail sections and are composed of insulating material. Each of the armature supports c comprises a base plate c? and two pairs of transversely arranged uprights e3, and the uprights c3 are provided in the top thereof with notches or recesses c4, and mounted in the'recesses et of the uprights e3 are armatures f which range longitudinally of the rail sections, and consist of end parts or blocks f2 having pins f3 which rest in the recesses c4 of the uprights c and are also provided at the top thereof with insulating caps ft to insure against accidental contact of the armature with the top of the third rail.

The end portions f2 of the armature are made hollow and are connected by an aluminum tie plate f5 on which is placed a concavo-convex contact device f preferably composed of aluminum so as to insure against corroding and other destructive chemical operations, and these contacts are also pr'eferably composed of aluminum bent into bow-shaped or concavoconvex form, and secured to the bottom of the top portion of the rail sections directly over the armatures f are contact devices f7 preferably composed of aluminum plates inclosed in carbon or to which carbon plates are secured, said devices being suitably secured to the bottom of the top portions of the third rail sections.

The armature devices f are, as will be understood, vertically movable and the contact devices f of said armatures are connected with the plates f5 by a bolt fs, and connected with the lower ends of these bolts are wires g which are connected with a conductor bar g2 which passes longitudinally through the bottom portions of the rail sections and through the base members c2 of the supports e. of the armatures, and the conductor bar g2 between the insulating partitions (Z is insulated as shown at g3, and the said conductor bar is composed of separate sections connected at the ends of the sections of the third rail as shown at gt, or in any desired manner, and I have also shown at /t a main circuit wire which runs parallel with the track and the conductor bar g2 which passes through the third rail sections is connected therewith at intervals by branch wires /zf2 and preferably between the ends of the separate third rail sections.

The insulating blocks c between the separate third rail sections are preferably fronr live to eight inches in length, and in Fig. l of the drawing I have also shown at z' a contact shoe carried, in practice, by the car or motor in the usual manner, and this contact shoe, any numberr of which may be employed, will be of considerable length preferably from three to four or iive times the length of the insulating` block c, and said contact shoe is also provided with contact rollers adapted to bear on the separate third rail sections and also with side contact devices 3 adapted to bear on the opposite sides of the top portion of the third rail, as in the patent, and applications hereinbefore referred to. The contact shoes z' are also provided with magnets t, and as will be understood, the top or contact portion of the third rail or third rail sections is composed of magnetizable material and the shoes z' are energized by the current from the rail as the car or motor moves along the track and, as the shoes z' come in contact with the separate third rail sections, the armatures f are raised or picked up, and the circuit is completed through the main wire or conductor L, and through t-he contact devices f and f7, and

'the separate sections of the third rail to the contact shoes and through the usual connections to the motor which is not shown,

use in a high current capacity circuit so as c to be able. to charge the motor from the third rail and insure a low resistance circuit and a high resist-ance insulation. and a better and more practical construction.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a third rail electric railway system, a third rail composed of separate sections, the adjacent ends of which are insulated,y said sections being composed of top bearingk portions and box-shaped bottom portions insulated from each other, the box-shaped bottom portions being closed at the ends by transverse insulating partitions, a conclue` tor passing through the box-shaped bottom portions and insulated at the ends of the sections, vertically movable armatures placed in the separate sections, and contact devices secured to the bottom of the top bearing portions of the third rail sections over said armatures.

2. In a third rail electric railway system, a third rail composed of separate sections comprising top bearing portions and box-V shaped bottom portions insulated from each other, insulating blocks placed between the ends of said sections, the box-shaped portions of, said sections being also provided adjacent to their ends with transverse in` sulating partitions, a conductor bar passed through the bottom portions of said sections and composed of separate parts connected at the ends of the sections, said bar being also insulated at said ends of the sections, vertically moval le armatures placed in the bottom box-shaped portions of said sect-ions and contact devices secured to the bottom of the top bearing portions of said third rail sec-r tions over said armatures.

3. In a third rail electric railway system, a third rail composed of separate sections comprising top bearing portions and boxshaped bottom portions insulated from each other, insulating blocks placed between the ends of said sections, insulating partitions placed in the end parts of the box-shaped bottom portions, a conductor bar passed through the bottom port-ions of said sectionsand composed of separate parts connected at the ends of said sections, said bar being also insulated at said ends of the sections, vertically movable armatures placed in the bottom box-shaped portions of said sections, and contact devices secured to the bottom of the top bearing portions of the said third rail sections and over said armatures; said armatures being composed of vertically arranged end members, a tieplate connecting said end members, contact devices secured to said tie-plate, and insulating caps placed on said end members.

Ll. In a third rail electric railway system, an armature composed of hollow vertically arranged end members, a central plate connecting said members, a contact device secured to said plate, and insulating caps placed on said end members.

In a third rail electric railway system, a third rail composed of separate sections comprising top bearing portions and bottom box-shaped portions connected and insulated, vertically movable armatures placed in the box-shaped bottom portionsI of the third rail sect-ions and composed otl connected end members and a central contact device, the end members being provided with insulating caps.

In a third rail electric railway system, a third rail composed of separate sections comprising top bearing portions and bottom box-shaped portions connected and insulated, vertically movable armatures placed in the box-shaped bottom portions of the third rail sections and composed of connected end members and a central contact device, the end members beinlg provided with insulatingl caps, the top bearing portions ot' the rail sections being also provided over said armatures with contact devices composed of aluminum plates covered with carbon.

T. In a third rail electric railway system, a third rail composed of separate sections, insulating blocks placed between said sections, said sections being also composed of top bearing portions and box-shaped bottom portions insulated from each other, the boX- shaped bottom portions being closed at the ends by transverse insulating partitions.

S. In a third rail electric railway system, a third rail composed of separate sections,

insulating blocks placed between said sections, said sections being also composed of top bearing portions and box-shaped bottom portions insulated from each other, the boX- shaped bottom portions being closed at the ends by transverse insulating partitions, and a conduct-or passing through the box-shaped bottom portions and insulated at the ends of the sections.

9. In a third rail electric railway system, vertically arranged hollow insulating supports open at the top, an armature device composed of hollow end members vertically movable in said supports, a. horizontal plate connecting said end members, and a contact device connected with said plate.

l0. In a third rail electric railway system, an armature device composed of vertically arranged hollow insulating end supports open at the top, an armature composed of hollow end members vertically movable in said supports, a horizontal plate connecting said end members, and a contact device connected with said plate and composed of aluminum.

ll. In a third rail electric railway system, an armature device composed of vertically arranged hollow insulating end' supports open at the top, an armature composed of hollow end members vertically movable in said supports, a horizontal plate connecting said end members, a contact device connected with said plate, and insulating caps placed on said vertically arranged end members of the armature.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 24th day of April 1908.

CHARLES KOZESNIK.

IVitnesses:

M. E. DooDY, C. E. MULREANY. 

